Project record
The team was going to Lake Placid, so Lake Placid went on the pin
A Massachusetts 14U team heading to Lake Placid. Four proof rounds in six days, every one of them driven by something the customer wanted added.
Needham · MA · Greater BostonLake Placid confirmed
- Quantity
- 165 pins
- Size
- 1.5"
- Pin type
- Standard pins
- Process
- Die struck soft enamel
- Inquiry to ship
- 16 days
The brief
A hockey team heading to Lake Placid wanted the town's name on the pin — and said so on the first design round, which is why the artwork went through four versions in six days.
How the design got made
- Beat 1
Opened with a size-and-quantity ladder rather than a single price
- Beat 2
Customer asked to work the destination into the design: 'Is there any way to incorporate Lake Placid into the pin?'
- Beat 3
Second request protected an element she liked from an earlier round: keep '14U Elite' from C1A
- Beat 4
Four proof rounds, C1 through C1C, driven entirely by content rather than colour
- Beat 5
Ordered 165 with the C1c design; invoice paid the same evening
- Beat 6
Factory approved to production the next morning, shipped by UPS ten days later
The full account
Four rounds, and not one of them a correction
Most proof cycles exist because something is wrong. This one did not.
The first design went out on a Tuesday. The reply came back the next morning with a question rather than a complaint:
"Is there any way to incorporate 'Lake Placid' into the pin?"
The team was travelling to Lake Placid. The destination was the point of the trip, and the customer wanted it on the thing the players would trade there. That became C1A.
The second request was even more specific — and it was about protecting something:
"Please keep the '14U Elite' from C1A"
She had seen an element she liked in one round and did not want it lost in the next. That became C1B, then C1C.
Four versions in six days, every one of them additive.
The order
The quote was not a single price. It was a ladder:
- 1.5 inch, 200 pins — $2.18 each
- 1.75 inch, 175 pins — $2.40 each
- 1.75 inch, 200 pins — $2.30 each
Price shown is what this order was quoted at, for this quantity, size and specification, on this date. It is not a current price list.
She ordered 165 with the C1c design. The invoice went out that afternoon and was paid the same evening — ordered, invoiced and settled inside nine hours. The factory was approved to production the following morning and the pins shipped ten days later.
Why this one is worth reading
It is the first order in the library with a confirmed destination event outside Cooperstown. Lake Placid is a real fixture on the youth hockey calendar, and the pin was designed around it because the customer said so — not because a folder name suggested it.
It also shows what the proof cycle is actually for. Four rounds sounds like friction. Read the thread and it is the opposite: a customer who knew what she wanted, asked for it plainly, and got it before anything went to the factory.
Specification
| Team | East Coast Wizards 14U Elite |
|---|---|
| Sport | Hockey |
| Quantity | 165 |
| Size | 1.5" |
| Process | die struck |
| Fill | soft enamel |
| Pin type | Standard pins |
| Banner included | No |
| Event | Lake Placid |
| Event confirmed | Yes |
| City | Needham |
| State | MA |
| County | Norfolk County |
| Region | Greater Boston |
| Inquiry | 2025-09-30 |
| Shipped | 2025-10-16 |
What this price was quoted under
- $2.18 / pin1.5" · 200 pins
- $2.40 / pin1.75" · 175 pins
- $2.30 / pin1.75" · 200 pins
Price shown is what this order was quoted at, for this quantity, size and specification, on this date. It is not a current price list.
- Quoted on
- September 30, 2025
- For quantity
- 165 pins
- At size
- 1.5"
- Build
- die struck soft enamel
- Excludes
- delivery charge, rush fee, import tariff
The banner threshold
This order sat under the threshold, so no banner was included. At the time the line fell at 1,000 pins at 2.0 inches or larger: the size step cost $0.20 more per pin — $1.07 to $1.27 — and brought a free 3ft × 6ft banner plus 100 bonus gold-metal or blackout pins with it.
Worth checking before you commit to a quantity: the bigger pin is frequently the cheaper total order.
quoted for this order onlyAbout the prices on this page
Every figure here is taken from a real quote for a real order. That is the point of it — and also the reason it will not match what you are quoted.
- Quantity moves the price more than anything else
- Size and build are priced separately
- Turnaround changes the total
- Import tariffs apply and are disclosed on the quote
- These are historical
Questions this order answers
Two inches or larger is the working floor for tournament trading — smaller pins get passed over. Sizes run from 2 inches up to 6.
One little league's four orders across three years show the migration in practice: they started at 1.25 inches and moved to 2.0. Larger sizes also unlock the banner threshold, which is why the bigger pin often costs less in total.
Sourced — Sizing guidance across multiple orders; Northern Virginia little league, 2022–2026
Production runs 12–14 business days after artwork approval. Design adds anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how many rounds it takes — one order went from first contact to approved art in five days across three rounds.
Shipping is the variable that costs money. Six weeks ahead of your date carries no delivery or rush charge. Four weeks adds a $40 delivery charge. Three weeks adds $40 plus a $75 rush fee.
Sourced — Standard quote language, 2025–26 season
Tell us the in-hands date first, before anything else. Rush orders are possible and we've protected tight dates by escalating directly with the factory mid-production.
It costs more, and the fastest shipping is also the tariff-exposed shipping. Three weeks out means a $40 delivery charge plus a $75 rush fee.
Sourced — Brainerd AHA rush, November–December 2025
No. Every figure in this library is what one team was quoted for one order, on the day they asked. It is published as a record, not as a price list.
Quantity and size move it most: the break runs about $0.20 per pin for every hundred pins, and the range here goes from a 1,500-pin corporate run at 1.25 inch to a 3 inch dangler with glitter. Pin type and finish are priced per pin on top of that — a spinner was $0.65 more per pin on one order, glitter is $0.10 per pin per glitter colour.
Timing is separate again. Six weeks ahead of your date carries no delivery or rush charge; four weeks adds a $40 delivery charge; three weeks adds $40 plus a $75 rush fee. The pins are manufactured in China and are subject to US import tariffs, disclosed on the quote rather than at invoice.
For a price that applies to your order, send your quantity, size and in-hands date and we will quote it.
Sourced — Quoted ladders and fee schedule across the AP Pope, Corona Avengers and Brainerd AHA threads, 2025–2026
Starting your team's pins?
This order was 165 pins at 1.5". Send us your roster size and your event date and we will come back with a price.
Request a free quote